Spectroscopy of metastable trapped ¹⁷³Yb⁺ for quantum information and fundamental science

The metastable ²F_7/2 state in ¹⁷¹Yb⁺ is increasingly being utilized as a resource for quantum information processing, but the more complex (and potentially more useful) hyperfine structure of this state for the deformed-nucleus ytterbium-173 isotope is experimentally unexplored. Predictions, however, point to unique aspects of the hyperfine interaction in this case, including hyperfine quenching of the metastable state lifetime to a technologically attractive level and the potential to resolve a 4 orders of magnitude discrepancy in the nuclear magnetic octupole moment of ytterbium-173. We present initial spectroscopy of ¹⁷³Yb⁺, and progress towards microwave spectroscopy of the metastable ²F_7/2 state.